Tape winder



July 4, 1961 A. w. wALLENs 2,991,022

TAPE WINDER Filed 001;. 9, 1958 Inventor A W WALLENS y/MW;

A iorney United States Patent 2,991,022 TAPE WINDER Anthony Walter Wallens, Croydon, England, assignor to Creed & Company Limited, 'Croydon, England, a Britlsll company lfiled Oct. 9, 1958, Ser. No. 766,316 Claims priority, application Great Britain Dec. 6, 1957 Claims. (Cl. 242-7551) This invention relates to tape winding devices.

It is known to have a constant torque tape Winding device in which the tension of the tape is adjusted to the maximum allowable value when tape is being wound onto the minimum diameter of a reel. The tension of the tape decreases proportionally as the winding diameter increases thus resulting in a loosely wound reel of tape.

A tape winder in which the winding motor is stopped if the tension of the tape exceeds a predetermined value, is also known. In a high speed system, for example in a tape relay system, the tape is wound at high speed such as 1025 oms. per minute and consequently the kinetic energy of the motor armature is considerable. If the supply of tape to the winder were suddenly interrupted, then the stopping of the motor may not be sufficient to prevent the tape from tearing.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of tape winder.

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a tape tensioning system embodying the invention;

'FIG. 2 is a schematic wiring diagram of the motor switching circuits shown controlled by the mechanism of FIG. 1.

A tape 1 is shown in FIG. 1 as being wound onto a reel 2 after passing over snubbing rollers 3 and 4, a pulley 5, and a roller 6. The pulley 5 is rotatably mounted on an arm 7 pivoted at one end about an axis 8. The arm 7 is urged anti-clockwise, with respect to the FIG. 1 against the tension of the tape by a tension spring 9, but is prevented from moving too tar in the anticlockwise direction by a stop 10, in the event of a reduction of the tape tension or in the absence of tape.

A motor 11 rotates the reel 2 in a clockwise direction with respect to FIG. 1 by means of a reduction gearing 12. If the supply of tape to the winder is restricted; the tension of the tape exceeds the tension of the spring 9 the arm 7 is forced in a direction against the action of the spring 9. Movement of the arm 7 in this clockwise direction causes a contact breaking detail 13 fixed to the other end of arm 7 to press against a protuberance 14 and to thereby open contacts 15.

If the supply of tape to the winder is stopped or seriously restricted then the arm 7 is caused, through the increased tension of the tape, to move further against the action of spring 9 to a position such as is shown dotted in FIG. 1. The detail 13 presses and moves a protuberance 16 which thereby causes contact springs 17 and 18 to move and to break connection with the front contacts of contacts 19 and 20 and to make connection with the back contacts of contacts 19 and 20. When the detail 13 is in this position, shown dotted, then contacts 15 will be closed. In FIGS. 1 and 2 the contact springs 17 and 18 are shown as making connection with the front contacts.

The motor 11 has an armature 11a and windings 21 and 22 as shown in FIG. 2, the windings being connected between a positive voltage supply and earth. The contacts 15 are connected between winding 22 and earth with condenser 23 connected across contacts 15 as a spark quench, and the motor is stopped when detail 13 presses on protuberance 14 as hereinbefore described. Contacts 19 and 20 are connected to form a reversing arrangement for the armature 11a as shown in FIG. 2, and it is to be noted that the motor is stopped by the opening of contacts 15 before being reversed by the closing of contacts 15 and the changeover of contacts 17 and 18. Reversal of the motor removes any immediate strain in the tape, and causes the latter to become slack. Spring 9 then urges the arm 7 in the anti-clockwise direction against the stop 10 until the tape winder is again restored to the condition shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The speed at which tape is wound on the reel 2 is corrected to match the speed at which tape is ted to the winder from for example a tape relay system. The winding tension is maintained constant within certain limits throughout the winding operation.

The motor 11 could alternately be reversed by reversing the polarity of the field windings 21 and 22 with the armature permanently connected.

While the principles of the invention have been described above in connection with specific embodiments, and particular modifications thereof, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

l. A tape winder comprising a tape winding motor and associated energizing circuitry for driving said motor, first switch means in said circuitry effective in response to a predetermined value of tape tension during winding to open the motor drive, and additional switch means in said circuitry effective when said tape tension exceeds said predetermined value for reversing the motor drive.

2. A tape winder according to claim 1 in which both said switch means are located in spacially displaced relation, and said tape has coupled thereto a switch operating means which is common to both said switches whereby the said switches are sequentially operated in time displaced sequence in accordance with the amount of tape tension.

3. A tape winder according to claim 2 in which said switching operating means comprises a pulley around which a predetermined length of loop in the tape passes, said pulley being shiftable in accordance with the tape tension, said pulley being attached to a switch operating arm which successively engages both said switch means in accordance with the length of said tape loop.

4. A tape winder according to claim 3 in which spring loading means is connected to said arm, said arm being normally out of the path of both said switches when said tape loop is of its normal length.

5. A tape winder according to claim 1 in which the first switch is connected in series with the said motor energizing circuit to open the motor drive, and the other switch is a reversing switch which reverses the direction of the energy supplied to the motor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,832,340 Siebs Nov. 17, 1931 1,857,817 McCann May 10, 1932 2,355,634 Doughty Aug. 15, 1944 

